Scott Walker OK’s Wisconsin Cannabis Oil Bill

Wisconsinites can now add to their diet of cheese, beer, and sausage a little something that’s actually healthy for the body and soil. Governor Scott Walker on Monday signed a bill to make a workable program for CBD oil in the state.

The bill is interesting for at least two reasons. First, its passage and signing shows a change of heart in a Republican-majority state senate who previously blocked the bill. Second, the bill is an example of a state actively trying to improve a flawed and limited medical marijuana program, something many other states might learn from.

Senate Bill 10 expands the use of CBD oil that was previously legalized back in 2014 in a piece of legislation called Lydia’s Law. The problem with Lydia’s Law was that it was extremely restrictive. So restrictive, in fact, that the law’s namesake Lydia Schaeffer, a young girl suffering from a severe form of epilepsy, died before she could ever receive legal CBD treatment.

The new legislation expands the confines of the law to allow treatment with CBD oil for any patient who gets a yearly doctor recommendation.

A bill with a similar goal died in the Senate last year after passing in the State Assembly, with conservative senators saying they feared the law would pave the way for wider medical marijuana programs. Since then, some Republican state senators who opposed CBD expansion either lost their seat or changed their position on the issue.

This version of the bill passed the Senate in a 31-1 vote in February and was favored by Assembly unanimously in March. It was then signed into law by Governor Scott Walker, a onetime hopeful in the 2016 Republican primary race.

“Today, we’re making it easier for people in our state to obtain CBD oil without a psychoactive effect to treat a medical condition as advised by their doctor,” Walker said in a statement, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Just in case you’re worried that Walker has gone soft, know that he also signed a bill Monday which makes it so contractors working on tax-funded construction projects can go around unions. Same old Walker.